Sometimes, one can never
expect to have a bond with another, not until they've felt the
connection with the other.

Certainly, Abe no Yasuaki
never even considered he'd ever have a bond with someone, not like
he'd seen people he'd helped had shared with others at least. The
only bond he'd ever thought he'd have would be the one with his
master, and even then, while the elderly onmyouji was responsible for
his being alive, Yasuaki felt nothing more than Seimei was his
master, that was all.

So, of course he found
himself surprised when he met Akane, the legendary Ryuujin no Miko
that the stars had foretold. She shed tears, and he found tears
forming in his own eyes as he watched and wondered just why the
teenage girl was crying. He certainly did not understand how that
happened, nor did he understand clearly why one of his stray tears
formed the dragon gem under his eye. But, he found himself thinking,
would this be a connection with her...a bond?

Again, something similar
happened when Yasuaki crossed paths with a young monk who was
destined to die that night. Something caused the dragon gem to burn,
but he found he couldn't completely understand it. But, there was
something else aside from that warmth coming from the gem; it was a
message coming from nobody and sounding in his own ears that the monk
was to be saved, and he was the one to save him. Yasuaki didn't
understand why, he was the one to predict the monk's death, how could
it be that he was to contradict his own prediction? Deciding not to
think about it, he silently, steathily followed the young monk.

The time was coming, the
time the monk was to meet his death. But, Yasuaki sat calmly under a
tree and just brought the danger to the monk's attention. Seeing the
monk was busy with the kin, he move into the water, using a barrier
to keep the onryou from attacking the smaller male. He held it off as
best as he could, and soon sensed another was about to appear. He
turned, ready to purify the onryou in the kin, only to stop when the
monk pleaded to be allowed to deal with the onryou in his own way.
Silence passed between them once he'd stated he understood. Truth
was, he didn't clearly understand, but he did not need to let the
monk know that, there was no time for explanations. Then again, what
happened once the monk calmly purified the soul of his friend, he
found he'd made the right decision in allowing the smaller male do
what had to be done.

Again, that connection
came in handy in saving the young monk, whose name he'd learned was
Eisen; his Hachiyo partner, the Ten no Genbu. He could sense
something was wrong, and what the wind howling in the trees told him
confirmed it. Making haste, he hurried to his partner's side, and
arrived just in time to hold off an attack Sefuru was using on Eisen.
Something must've happened that night, because he could feel his
connection, his bond, with his partner was much stronger, and that
allowed them to not only use a powerful attack combining his onmyoudo
with Eisen's powers of water, but also to find the talisman of the
north, the seal required to free the beast god Genbu.

There were times he found
himself getting confused concerning his bond with Eisen, it was much
stronger than it was with any other, even stronger than the bond he
shared with Akane. At first, he supposed that it was because they
were partners under the same beast god, but that answer didn't
satisfy him. There was much more to the bond, much more. Maybe one
day, the onmyouji would find the answer, until then all he could do
was seek it. But, at least he was finally able to understand what it
meant, how it felt, to have a deep connection with someone, a mutual
bond shared between two destined souls.

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